The Best Laid Plans and Looking Back

There are no mice or men in this post, but somehow things have still not gone according to plan. I was planning to post at least weekly, if not each day that I rode or had a lesson or went to the barn... that was six months ago, give or take. I don't even think that this post can be about Abbey, because how do you not wirte a book about six months of time? What have I been doing with all my time? I feel so lazy!

Baby Abbey

Big Girl Abbey

Let's take a look...
Riding
Taking Lessons
Crossfit AZO
Being a Wife (not always the best one, but he likes me anyway it seems)
Working a "real" job in an office, but where I get to wear yoga pants every day - good for comfort, bad for the waistline
Traveling for work
Traveling for fun
Working my dream job as a photographer at Kristen Karen Photography(booking, shooting, editing, creating, delivering)
Sleeping
Drinking coffee
Eating
Trying to lose weight
Eating
Weight Watchers meetings
Cleaning a little
Laundry
Cooking food
Eating
Reading blogs
Reading books
Seeing friends
Having pool days
Shaving my legs
Washing my hair
Giving myself a pedi
Bonfires
Shopping
Drinking beer
Drinking wine
Drinking margaritas (hubby's are the best!)
Floating in the pool by myself and reading a book (multitasking!)
Watching Breaking Bad (Just one more "episode" please!)
Movie night sometimes
Real Housewives of Everywhere
Actually losing weight
Gaining it back
Losing again... it's a process, right?
Petting my dog
Feeling guilty about not getting more done each day

So, I guess I have been a little busy. Once I am finished with photography this summer/fall (that's another post for another day) then I would really like to write more. This whole life balance eludes me most of the time.

I try to remind myself of what I learned from a yoga teacher; when you "do" yoga, it is called your "practice". You might be asked, "How many times a week do you practice," or, "what school or yoga do your practice?" The point is, it is never done, you are never finished, there is not one summit to climb and be done, but rather each day, each opportunity to practice is it's own unique summit. Surely there are poses that can be honed, breathing, focus, meditation that can be improved. But, does one fail because one has fallen out of a pose today that was held longer yesterday? It is easy to feel that way sometimes in yoga, in horseback riding, and in life in general.

So, I want to remember more often that each morning I wake up I get to choose how to attack the summit of the day. Strike out hard with furry and reach it in record time, or go at a more measured pace that allows me to find the moments of calm and perfection in the ascent.  Or, as I watched on National Geographic Ultimate Survival Alaska last night, sometimes you set out, only to be turned back by forces stronger than you. You may not make it to basecamp, but are instead forced to hunker down and improvise a shelter until the weather breaks. It doesn't make you a failure to not have reached the summit, it makes you wise to know when the conditions are right.

Stopping to smell the flowers... and maybe eat a few.

 

And, when you are within sight of the summit and are struggling with each breath and step, don't forget to look behind you to see the miles of trail you have overcome, the thousands of feet you have climbed. So, this post really is about training Abbey, because the details may not be important right now. We are nowhere near the summit of being a finished team, but when I turn around on the trail and look back to January of 2011 and see that little filly playing in the field, or to a more recent January when we were both scared and wondering what the future held at our new barn, I can't help but smile at all the peaks and valleys we have already crossed. I think that getting there is probably more than just half the fun, it might even be all of it.

This is the life :)

PS - Abbey and I are traveling to Lansing, MI this weekend for our first show expereince with some fellow barn mates and my trainer. We aren't showing, but just going to get our feet wet. Also, yesterday we went exploring in the neighbors field. Abbey seemed excited about it, and wasn't afraid of walking in the tall flowers and uneven terrain, even though she is terrified of the evil horse-eating pothole in the driveway. More on that later :)